Mass transit system

ABSTRACT

A mass transit system providing for the exiting of a first vehicle from a first lower track to the opposite side of a second lower track without entering the space occupied by a second vehicle traveling along the second lower track, comprising providing an upper track suspended above the first track, providing for upper wheels on the first vehicle which will engage the upper track at a location where the upper track is suspended above the first lower track, and curving upper third track upwards to a height such that the first vehicle is above the space occupied by the second vehicle traveling along the second lower track and curving the upper track over the space occupied by the second vehicle traveling along the second lower track.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

N/A

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK

A CD of this system is attached, this CD has had public disclosure for approximately 1 month prior to the filing of the application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of this invention is that of mass transit systems for moving people around in relatively congested areas. A variety of methods for moving people around are currently being used and proposed with varying virtues and disadvantages.

Automobiles are the most common form of transportation at this time and accomplish the movement of a mass of people, functionally one person at a time. It is relatively expensive in terms of automotive costing, fuel costing, freeway construction, and environmental pollution. A primary advantage is that of freedom of movement. You don't have to go exactly where someone else wants you to go, you have a variety of choices only limited by where roads are built and the resultant traffic jams.

Trains and other surface rail trolleys were popularized in the 19^(th) century with a main feature that they did not require a good road system. The tracks are relatively simple to install and maintain when there is no infrastructure in place. A disadvantages of these surface rail systems are that they are in the middle of the traffic so they contribute to the traffic jams, they require a substantial investment in real estate especially expansions in existing infrastructure, are expensive to make alterations on, and run relatively slowly. One transit system predicts that their new proposed system will actually run at an average of 17 mph. The market for surface rail transport was primarily eliminated by busses in the first part of the last century, except for long runs.

Busses provide much of the mobility of automobiles, but tend to be relatively slow and hard to plan anything around except for going directly to and from work, on someone else's schedule. They tend to be diesel driven, and tend to contribute to the pollution problem.

Mono-rail systems have had the most visual appeal for the past several decades as they glide smoothly above the traffic. They have been limited by the fact that monorails cannot typically change tracks like trains because of the nature of the engagement of the monorail with the track. A monorail functionally goes back and forth or round and round on same track.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a mass transportation system which will not block automotive traffic during operations.

A second object of the present invention is to provide system which will not require the purchase of significant amounts of land when installing in an existing area.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a system which can be installed in night times without interfering with regular traffic during the day time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system which will allow parallel tracks to run into and out of a city with exits from both of the tracks to a common convenient side without one direction of traffic crossing the opposite direction of traffic.

Another object of this invention is to provide vehicles which have powered wheels on the top and bottom sides such that the wheels on the top side can engage a first track and the wheels on the bottom side can engage a second track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Is a cross section thru a freeway with the transit system installed over one of the feeder roads.

FIG. 2 is a view of a substation of this invention including several operational components. FIG. 2A is a top view and FIG. 2B is a side view.

FIG. 3 is a closer view of the substation showing how a vehicle will exit a track. FIG. 3A is a top view and FIG. 3B is a side view.

FIG. 4 is a closer view of a portion of the substation showing a vehicle at the loading and unloading platform. FIG. 4A is a top view and FIG. 4B is a side view.

FIG. 5 is a section of the substation showing how the vehicle can switch from an outbound line to an inbound line, or the reverse. FIG. 5A is a top view and FIG. 5B is a side view.

FIG. 6 is a section of the substation showing a vehicle reentering the straight thru track system. FIG. 6A is a top view and FIG. 6B is a side view.

FIG. 7 is a cross section from FIG. 2 showing a vehicle going each way with an automobile below going each way.

FIG. 8 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing the vehicles at the area where the upper track starts.

FIG. 9 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing that one vehicle is rising above the level of the top of either of the vehicles when on the lower track.

FIG. 10 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing that one of the vehicles has reached the highest position and an intermediate structural member is added.

FIG. 11 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing the vehicle which has risen up with the upper track is starting to move off to the left on the page.

FIG. 12 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing the structural portion is moving off to the left over other traffic or other areas.

FIG. 13 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing the vehicles have stopped in the area of loading and offloading platforms.

FIG. 14 is a cross section view from FIG. 2 showing one of the vehicles in an area on lower track that is moving between the left position and the right position in order to change from the outboard track to the inboard track.

FIG. 15 is an external view of a vehicle of this invention showing that it is symmetrical to travel in either direction.

FIG. 16 is a cross section view of a vehicle showing seating, upper wheels and lower wheels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of the transit system 1 across a freeway 2 with an incoming feeder 3 and an outgoing feeder 4. An arch type construction 5 bridges the incoming feeder 3 and supports tracks 6. Exit path 7 of outbound car 8 when it is lifted off the track and delivered to a feeder station. Exit path 9 for inbound car 10 shows that car 10 will also be picked up off the tracks 6, but not necessarily as high. It is important to understand that the path 7 of car 8 moves high enough and around the travel of the inbound car 10 to allow the exiting outbound car 8 to slow while exiting without concern about being hit by inbound car 10.

FIG. 2 shows the basic components of this invention in what is called a substation 11, having cars or vehicles shown at 12, 14, 16, and 18 and automobiles shown at 20 and 22. An exit portion is shown at 30, a loading and unloading portion is shown at 32, a switching portion is shown at 34 and a reentering section is shown at 36. The system uses two tracks for a vehicle, with tracks going out from the center of the city being shown at 40 and the tracks returning to the city being shown at 42. Tracks shown at 44, 46, 48, and 50 are a single straight set of tracks which vehicles will run down one way or the other without interruption if they are not exiting at a station.

Referring now to FIG. 3, road for normal automotive traffic is shown at 60, lower tracks for lower side support for the vehicles of this invention are provided at 62, and upper tracks for the upper side support of vehicles of this invention are shown at 64. As will be discussed later, as the vehicles approach the starting 70 of the upper tracks 64, they will continue to travel down tracks 62 unless upper wheels are set to engage the tracks 64. If the upper wheels are set to engage track 64, the vehicle will engage tracks 64 and travel up to a higher elevation. If an extended bridge is required, conventional structural technology can be employed to design for bridging members as shown at 72.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the vehicle 14 has stopped at platforms 80 to load or unload passengers. In like manner platform 82 can be utilized by a vehicle on the other set of tracks.

Referring now to FIG. 5, upper tracks 64 at location 90 are at the distance from lower tracks at 92 which allow the vehicle 16 to elect to engage upper tracks 64 at 90 or release and be fully supported by tracks 92. We can presume at this time that vehicle 16 has been fully supported by lower tracks at 92. At location 94 the upper tracks have moved up such that the upper tracks are higher than the top of the vehicle 16. This allows the lower tracks at location 96 to curve from below one set of upper tracks to under the other set of upper tracks. When the lower tracks 92 rise up slightly at 98, the vehicle 16 can engage the other upper tracks at 100 from the one which it was under at location 94. In this way the vehicle can switch from one track to the other in order to switch from out of the city direction to into the city direction.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the vehicle 18 is traveling down upper track 110 to land on the lower track at 120 to continue the trip.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a section of the system is taken at “7-7” on FIG. 2 showing a track in a first direction on pipes 130 and 132 and a track in the opposite direction on pipes 134 and 136. Electrical power is delivered to the vehicles thru wires illustrated at 138. Wheels 140 are supported on the tracks such at on 130. Such wheel are likely to have electric motors in the hubs of the wheels to conserve space. Upper wheels as shown at 142 will also be powered by electric motors and will engage the upper tracks as will be seen. Mechanism at 144 is a screw or cylinder to move wheel 142 toward or away from engagement with the upper tracks as will be seen. Wheels at 142 and 144 are moved to a close position for engagement with the upper track. Wheels at 146 and 148 are at a spaced apart position so as to not engage the upper track.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a section of the system is taken at “8-8” on FIG. 2 showing that the vehicles are in the area of the start of the upper tracks and wheels 142 and 144 on vehicle 149 have engaged pipes 150 and 152 of the upper track 64. Wheels 146 and 148 on vehicle 153 are shown to not engage the pipes 154 and 156 of the upper track on that side. Structure 158 is added to support the upper tracks.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a section of the system is taken at “9-9” on FIG. 2 showing the vehicle 149 has been lifted by the upper tracks whereas the vehicle 153 has not been raised.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a section of the system is taken at “10-10” on FIG. 2 showing that the vehicle has achieved the full height needed and middle structural member 160 is added.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a section of the system is taken at “11-11” on FIG. 2 showing that the structure 170 is moving the vehicle off to the left.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a section of the system is taken at “12-12” on FIG. 1 showing that vehicle 149 is still being moved off to the left with structural portion 180.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a section of the system is taken at “13-13” on FIG. 2 showing that structure 190 supports upper tracks 192 and 194 which support vehicles 196 and 198 at platforms 82 and 80 for the loading and unloading of passengers. Escalators 200 and 202 provide for easy access of passengers to the loading and unloading level. Elevators will probably be provided for unrestricted access by all.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a section of the system is taken at “14-14” on FIG. 1 showing that the vehicle 210 is being switched from below one upper track 212 to below the other upper track 214 on pipes 216 and 218.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a view of a vehicle of this invention is shown illustrating that it will be symmetrical from the front to the rear so that it can travel equally well in either direction.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a section of the vehicle of this invention is shown showing lower wheels at 230 and 232 for engagement of the lower tracks. Upper wheels at 234 and 236 are set to engage the upper tracks and are supported by structures at 238 and 240 respectively. Wheels at 230, 232, 234 and 236 are all individually powered electrically so that the vehicle can smoothly move from traveling along a lower track to traveling along an upper track.

The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below. 

1. A method of providing for passenger transit from a first location to a second location comprising: providing a vehicle, providing a set of lower wheels on the lower side of said vehicle for engaging a lower track below said vehicle, and providing a set of upper wheels on the upper side of said vehicle for intermittently engaging an upper track above said vehicle.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a lower track to engage said lower wheels and an upper track to engage said upper wheels.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising spacing said set of upper wheels a first distance to allow said wheels to engage said upper track and alternately spacing said upper wheels a second distance to prevent engagement with said upper track.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising when said upper wheels engage said upper track, curving a portion of said upper track and raising said vehicle off said lower track when said vehicle travels along said portion of said upper track.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising raising said vehicle to a position such that the lower portion of said vehicle is higher than the upper portion of a similar vehicle on said lower track
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising curving said upper track to allow said vehicle to pass over said similar vehicle.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising curving said upper track to allow said vehicle to pass over said similar vehicle is on a different track at the same level as said lower track.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said similar vehicle on said different track is traveling in the opposite direction as said vehicle on said lower track was traveling.
 9. The method of providing for the exiting of a first vehicle from a first lower track to the opposite side of a second lower track without entering the space occupied by a second vehicle traveling along said second lower track, comprising providing an upper track suspended above said first track, providing for upper wheels on said first vehicle which will engage said upper track at a location where said upper track is suspended above said first lower track, and curving upper third track upwards to a height such that said first vehicle is above the said space occupied by said second vehicle traveling along said second lower track and curving said upper track over said space occupied by said second vehicle traveling along said second lower track.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising positioning said set of upper wheels a first distance to allow said wheels to engage said upper track and spacing said set of upper wheels apart a second distance to prevent engagement with said upper track.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein said upper track curves upwardly above said first track, curves to a position above said second track, and curves down to allow said first vehicle to land on said second track.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said second vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction as said first vehicle is traveling.
 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising positioning said upper wheels between said first distance apart and said second distance apart by electric motors.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising positioning said upper wheels between said first distance apart and said second distance apart by rotary screws.
 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising positioning said upper wheels between said first distance apart and said second distance apart by cylinders.
 16. A method of providing for switching a vehicle from a first track to a second track comprising: providing a vehicle, providing a first and a second upper track and a lower track, said first upper track being above said lower track at a first location, providing a set of lower wheels on the lower side of said vehicle for engaging said lower track below said vehicle, providing a set of upper wheels on the upper side of said vehicle for engaging said upper tracks above said vehicle, positioning said first upper track and said lower track at said first location a first distance apart such that said vehicle can engage either said first upper or said lower track, positioning said first and second upper tracks and said lower pair of tracks at a second location a second distance apart such that said vehicle can only engage one or the other of said first upper track, said second upper or said lower track, moving said lower track from below said first upper track to below said second upper track, bringing said second upper track and said second lower track said first distance apart so that said vehicle can engage said second upper track.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said moving of said lower track from below said first upper track to below said second upper track is by curving of said lower track.
 18. The method of claim 16 wherein said moving of said lower track from below said first upper track to below said second upper track is by curing said upper tracks.
 19. The method of claim 16 wherein changing said the distance from said upper tracks to said lower tracks is by raising said upper tracks.
 20. The method of claim 16 wherein changing said the distance from said upper tracks to said lower tracks is by lowering said lower tracks. 